Aaron Judge Turned Down $230M Yankees Offer

Opening Day has come and gone for the New York Yankees, without an extension agreement with the face of their franchise. GM Brian Cashman says Aaron Judge was offered a 7-year extension at $30M per year, which, combined with the $17M they offered in arbitration for this season, brought the total to 8 years and $230M. The superstar slugger turned it down. 

Official from Yankees GM Brian Cashman: No long-term deal for Aaron Judge. Said Yankees offered a seven-year, $213.5 million extension, which, paired with the $17 million they’ve offered in arbitration this season, would have made the entire package just over $230 million.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 8, 2022

"Obviously, our intent is to have Aaron Judge stay as a New York Yankee as we move forward," said Cashman,  'and I know that is his intent as well, which is a good thing. We're going to be entering those efforts in a new arena, which would be at the end of the season when free agency starts, and maybe that will determine what the real market value would be, because we certainly couldn't agree at this stage on a contract extension."

The offer far surpassed the 7-year deal that superstar infielder Jose Ramirez just signed with the Cleveland Guardians ($150M total value). However, Cleveland is not New York City, and the Guardians are not the Yankees. 

Judge is undoubtedly one of the faces of major league baseball, and he is worth a lot more to the Yankees than Ramirez is to Cleveland, regardless of talent comparison. 

Cashman characterized the contract talks as amenable:

"It was really good, healthy dialogue that did not lead to a positive conclusion at this date. But it doesn't mean that a conclusion in a positive way for the Yankees and Aaron Judge together in the future can't happen. It's just not going to happen right now."